1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for trading commodities including services using a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently a variety of commodities including services have been traded using a network. Hereinafter, a system for trading commodities using a network is called an “electronic purchase system”.
Although a network used in an electronic purchase system is not restricted, for example, it can be the “Internet”. An electronic purchase system using the Internet is described below.
A seller of commodities, for example, displays a “catalog of commodities” on the home page of the seller. Generally the catalog includes the list of commodities that the seller can offer and the price of each commodity. A purchaser browses the home page of the seller and selects (purchases) his/her favorite commodity from the catalog. If the seller recognizes that the purchaser has selected a specific commodity from the catalog, the seller provides the purchaser with the commodity.
The electronic purchase system described above presumes that one or more purchasers select commodities from a catalog of a specific seller. However, a system where a purchaser can select commodities from the catalogs of a plurality of sellers is also known. Such a system can be implemented, for example, by displaying catalogs provided by a plurality of sellers on one specific home page. In this case, this home page may be provided by the sellers or may be a person other than the sellers. The catalog of each seller is often edited in such a way that a purchaser can easily view it. In this way, a purchaser can select his/her favorite commodities from a plurality of catalogs.
As described above, a system for trading commodities using a network, in particular using the Internet, is conventionally known.
However, according to the conventional electronic purchase system, usually purchasers and/or sellers are not restricted. Specifically, a purchaser cannot restrict his/her sellers while a seller also cannot restrict his/her purchasers. This leads to the following situations.
If there are many and unspecified purchasers, there is a high possibility that a purchase price may not be paid or the payment may be delayed. This creates a high risk in price collection. For this reason, a seller often hopes to restrict his/her purchasers.
When a trade agreement is made between a seller and a purchaser, an account must be opened. Specifically, if a purchaser wants to trade with many sellers, he/she must open an account for each seller and manage the account, which increases his/her incidental burden. A problem often occurs, for example, in a case where a purchaser is an enterprise and a person who purchases a commodity, such as each employee, etc., and a person who manages the purchase of commodities, such as stuff in a general-affairs department, etc., are different. For this reason, a purchaser, in particular a person who manages the purchase of commodities, often hopes to restrict his/her sellers.
As a solution to such a problem, for example, the use of a credit card company can be considered. If a credit card company is used, there is no need to open an account for each trade partner and the risk of price collection can also be reduced. However, in this case, a commission, etc., must be paid to the credit card company. Therefore, an expense increase occurs.
According to the conventional electronic purchase system, the selling price of each commodity is basically fixed for all purchasers. However, in the real world, for example, generally a selling price is discounted for both a regular purchaser and a heavy purchaser or the price is modified depending on the location of a purchaser. Specifically, the conventional electronic purchase system cannot realize trade conducted in the real world.
There is also a system where the price of a commodity can be fixed for each purchaser using a network. For example, a car selling system where the selling price of a car can be fixed by inputting data on the model, the color of a car body, the existence/non-existence of options, is known. However, this system is a tool for a sales person, and a plurality of sellers and a plurality of purchasers cannot participate in this system.